Posted on 12/28/2004 3:28:39 AM PST by white trash redneck
A 150-member Israeli aid delegation canceled its mission to Sri Lanka on Tuesday, after the country - one of the hardest hit in the Asian tsunami disaster - refused to accept the Israeli team, Israel Defense Forces officials said.
However, Israel is sending supplies at Sri Lanka's request, including 10,000 blankets contributed by the IDF, tents, nylon sheeting and water containers. The IDF Home Front Command is organizing aid preparations.
The Israeli humanitarian organization Latet ("To give") is sending a separate aid package Tuesday. It is filling a jumbo jet with 18 tons of supplies worth $50,000, at Sri Lanka's request. The group is considering sending additional aid shortly.
Sri Lanka said on Tuesday the death toll from the tsunami had risen to about 15,000 people, including at least 200 foreign tourists. Sri Lankan military spokesman Daya Ratnayake said more than 1.5 million people had been displaced from their homes - around 7.5 percent of Sri Lanka's population.
About 26,000 people were confirmed dead Tuesday in the wake of the tsunami that slammed into coasts from India to Indonesia two days before, with some estimates nearly doubling that toll.
The aid delegation that had been set to depart for Sri Lanka on Tuesday included medical teams and representatives of the IDF and Defense Ministry, who were planning to provide humanitarian assistance and participate in search-and-rescue operations.
The delegation was planning to assemble a medical facility comprised of specialist doctors, and set up emergency, internal medicine and pediatric departments, as well as laboratory and X-ray facilities in the southern part of Sri Lanka.
A far smaller team landed in Sri Lanka on Monday night, headed by four doctors from Hadassah University Hospital, Ein Karem in Jerusalem. The team was carrying medicine and baby food.
The doctors - who specialize in rescue operations, trauma and pediatrics - were also checking the viability of setting up a field hospital in the area, and advised Israel to send a larger team, such as the one Sri Lanka rejected.
"We will advise Israel and the Foreign Ministry... to send something more massive," said Dr. Avi Rivkind, director of Hadassah's trauma unit. "We will try to use our... broad experience in dealing with terror attacks and rescuing masses to help in this disaster as well."
Israel is weighing the option of sending similar delegations to Thailand, where more than 1,000 people have died, and India, where more than 4,000 people have died, but has yet to make a final decision on the matter.
Health Min. team leaves for Thailand A Health Ministry contingent left for Thailand on Monday night to aid in the rescue efforts there after around 1,000 people, including tourists, were killed on the islands of Phuket and Phi Phi. The contingent includes doctors, nurses and four members of the IDF, Israel Radio reported.
Israel has also offered its assistance to India. Mofaz passed on the offer to Indian authorities through Israel's military attache Colonel Moshe Krawitz.
Mofaz offered aid of two kinds - a search-and-rescue team from the Home Front Command, as well as consignments of food and medicine.
A ZAKA rescue-and-recovery team left for the disaster areas Monday night armed with its equipment, including materials and tools for identifying bodies, as well as body bags.
"We are waiting for any instruction," Yehuda Meshi Zahav, the director of the organization, said Monday.
Jerusalem Post: India, unlike Thailand and Sri Lanka, has not requested any Israeli assistance.
Hey sweetie, I see you changed your homepage. Nice job.
And I am glad you like rugby--I played for 2 years and only required four operations.
thanks! Rugby is hard core ;-)
I don't see how this indicates that any country other than Israel has been specifically "disinvited" from sending aid workers.
Israel is sending relief workers and supplies to Sri Lanka. In addition, Sri Lanka's Health Ministry has dispatched 300 physicians to the affected areas.
Bump for later read
Liberalism in and of itself is not anti-Semetic. Look at the overwhelming support of Democrats as well as Republicans in Congress for an example. The far left is and always has been anti-Semetic, but left-of-center liberalism is not.
In addition, many Jews fear the Christian right for good reason. There are those who wish to make America a "Christian Nation" and that seems threating to religious minorities. There are Christian Freepers, for example, who hijack threads and do all they can to prostletyze to Jewish posters. Jews and Christians are on opposite sides of the abortion debate for the most part. It is fear of more power to the Christian right and the belief that such power will curtail the religious freedom of American Jews that fuels the support by American Jews for the Democratic party.
Thanks for the ping
What bunch of morons Sri Lanka govt officals
What bunch of snooty Indian givers that Sri Lanka is
And why would Israel want to do that? Sri Lanka is an independent country and can take care of itself. Or cannot, but this is certainly not Israel's problem.
I have not been to Pune. I would love to travel there someday just to do some collecting (if that were possible).
The Pune area is quite famous for their zeolite minerals. I have a couple of shelves of Pune zeolites in a showcase in my daughter's bedroom.
My goodness - I must have really missed out on a good zot.
"Antisemitism defies logic."
---Yes but there is no Antisemitism in India (and I can safely say that even for Sri Lanka). And as I have said before, people in India are not even aware of the term antisemitism. Try to read something about my country. India is the only place on Earth where jews have lived happily for centuries without being persecuted. Today we have excellent relations with Isreal and we have a huge amount of tradewith Isreal and they are our second largest defence supplier. In this part of the world, we happen to be Isreal's only ally. If u dont believe me ask an Isreali FReeper if u know one.
But it seems that some here at FR just simply love to believe that they have no friends and the whole world is against them. This is very similar to the facist Islamic mentality.
snooty Indian ????
Very close to the truth saheeb. America has very few friends in the rest of the world unless
we are needed for financial aide, military aide, or a free education. And I'm betting Israel has even less friends than we.
The trick is, we don't mind you not being a friend, just don't make the mistake of being our enemy.
Ben Affleck missing in floods? Fox news just reported that Americans are missing and (I could have heard it wrong) Afflek missing?
Afleck is still an American? I haven't heard of his being missing.
They (Fox) continued to talk about celebrities missing. They didn't mention him again. I think I misheard it.
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